Repository logo
 

Beyond the Movement: Contention, Affinities and Convergence in New York, Cairo and Paris


Type

Thesis

Change log

Authors

Abrams, Benjamin David Maurice  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3925-1942

Abstract

Amid the 2011 Arab Revolts, and the subsequent worldwide Occupy movement, social movement scholars faced sudden, powerful mass mobilisations without easily identifiable resources, networks, or forms of organisation underlying them. These instances of mobilisation beyond the scope of what we traditionally consider ‘the movement’ have stretched existing theories of social movements to their limits, defying both conventional theoretical frameworks and existing approaches. This work undertakes a novel analysis of mobilisation which accounts for these new, disruptive cases. It advances the concept of Affinity: a predisposition to participate in certain causes based on social or psychological traits. Alongside this concept, it outlines conditions of Convergence: emergent situations, frames and spaces which encourage those with such Affinity to temporarily participate in mass mobilisations. These two concepts are advanced and developed through a study of the 2011 Egyptian Revolt and Occupy Wall Street movement, alongside the classic case of the 1789 French Revolution. These cases are analysed in comparative perspective to develop a powerful analytical tool with which scholars can augment conventional analyses: The Affinity-Convergence Model of Mobilisation.

Description

Date

Advisors

Kandil, Hazem Khaled

Keywords

Mass mobilisation, Affinity, Convergence, Egyptian Revolution, French Revolution, 1789, 2011, Occupy Movement, Occupy Wall Street, Affinity-Convergence Model of Mobilisation, Social Movements, Revolution

Qualification

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Awarding Institution

University of Cambridge
Sponsorship
Economic and Social Research Council